


The Lemon Law

by jordanKdan



Series: The HIMYM Series [1]
Category: Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-05
Updated: 2017-08-16
Packaged: 2018-12-11 14:15:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11716059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jordanKdan/pseuds/jordanKdan
Summary: Ong Seongwoo is a big How I Met Your Mother fan, and lives by the laws Barney Stinson made. That's why when he met Daniel on a blind date, he decides to lemon law him. He looked like a loser laughing for no reason, and Seongwoo knew that this date is going downhill.After a year and a half, Ong Seongwoo finds himself stuck with Kang Daniel, a red string stopping them from staying more than one meter away from each other.





	1. the lemon law: 1

**Author's Note:**

> derived from HIMYM's "the lemon law"  
> see http://how-i-met-your-mother.wikia.com/wiki/Lemon_Law
> 
> Too much HIMYM for me plus NielOng's crazy ass shit fanservice for wanna one GO <3  
> since it's getting awfully long, i'm going to divide it into two chapters heeh
> 
> AND WANNA ONE FREAKING DEBUTED!!!!!!!!! ALL KILL!!!!!!!  
> I AM SO PROUD OF MY BOYS I CAN'T EVEN

 

 **ONG!!!!!  11:06PM  
** JISUNG

 **jisung    11:07PM  
** whut

 **ONG!!!!!     11:08PM  
** I’M GOING TO KILL YOU

 **jisung 11:08PM**  
wth why  
is it bc i’m super awesome

 **ONG!!!!! 11:11PM  
** u must be talking about me

 **Jisung  11:11PM  
** I cannot take this conversation bye

 **ONG!!!!   11:13PM  
** I’M GOING TO CHOP YOUR BIG HEAD OFF

 **jisung   11:14PM**  
uhm  
okay?  
but tell me why first

 **ONG!!!!!   11:17PM**  
WORST!!!  
BLIND!!!!!!!!!!!  
DATE!!!!!!!  
eVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 **Jisung    11:19PM**  
wth  
what happened  
i’m studying make it quick

 **ONG!!!!!  11:20PM  
** only way i know how ;-)

 **jisung   11:23PM**  
..WTF  
i have no interest in your sex life  
i cannot go on with this convo  
bye

 **ONG!!!!!   11:24PM**  
u set me up with the worst guy on earth  
wHY SET ME UP WITH THAT GUY?????

 **jisung   11:24PM**  
what do u mean  
nyel is a nice guy, so why not  
he isn’t the worst guy on earth  
and you practically begged me to set you up with the best guy I know  
so there, i gave u the best one 

 **ONG!!!!!   11:27PM**  
shouldn’t have trusted u  
your whole dating history is a cATASTROPHE

 **jisung    11:28PM**  
excuse me????  
..wOW  
BYE U SON OF A ME

 **ONG!!!!!    11:29PM**  
it’s never going to work  
so i lemon law-ed him

 **jisung   11:30PM**  
you lemon.. what?  
wth ong  
speak English

 **ONG!!!!!   11:31PM**  
anyways, thanks for wasting my time  
FRIENDSHIP CANCELLED  
ONGSUNG IS CANCELLED

 **Jisung   11:31PM  
** k

 **ONG!!!!!  11:32PM**  
ur not my best bro anymore

_seen 11:33PM_

**ONG!!!!!    11:35pm**  
r u ignoring me  
JISUNG

_seen 11:36PM_

**ONG!!!!!    11:36pm**  
JISUNG-SSI!!!!  
sweet dreams, dream of me  
i’m going to kill u in ur sleep ;-)

_Seen 11:38pm_

 ***

 

 

Ong Seongwoo isn’t the kind of person to go on second dates when he knows it’s _never_ going to work. Heck, even within five minutes, he can distinguish whether his date is a good fit or not.

After watching too much How I Met Your Mother, he started to live his life Barney Stinson style— legendary. That is why when he met Kang Daniel on a date care of his very good friend Yoon Jisung, he decides to apply one of the best rules: The Lemon Law. You only need five minutes to know whether your date is going anywhere. After seeing Daniel smiling and laughing while talking to the small potted cactus on the table, Ong Seongwoo decides this date isn’t going anywhere. He’s Ong Seongwoo for crying out loud, he wouldn’t settle for a loser laughing for no reason.  He’s Ong Seongwoo, hecan score two 10s if he wanted to.

He knew that Daniel and him aren’t a good combination, that is why he doesn’t know why he ended up getting stuck with Kang Daniel a year and a half later, a red string stopping them from staying more than one meter away from each other.

“Congratulations, Ong Seongwoo-nim, Kang Daniel-nim!” The over-all in charge for _The Red String of Fate_ booth, Choi Minki, says with a smile, gesturing at a smiling Daniel and a gloomy Seongwoo. “You guys are one of the people connected by the red string, and you know what this means?”

 _I’m damned, that’s what it is._ Ong Seongwoo thought to himself as he pretended to listen to whatever Minki has to say. He dumped this guy, why on earth would he want to spend one day with him again?

“This means that the two of you, yes sweetie look at your partner,” Minki said, pertaining to the young couple beside Daniel, Bae Jinyoung and Lee Daehwi. “I can see that you’re liking it, huh? We’ll see. Anyways, where was I?” Minki clasped his hands together and pressed his lips together. “It means that the two of you are destined to be together! Well, besides the fact that you or your friends kind of paid for it, thank you for your donations by the way. The drama club will use it well.”

The more Minki explained about the club, the more Seongwoo got bored. He was supposed to enjoy the school festival with his other friends, but an anonymous person bought the red string package from the drama club and partnered him up with Kang Daniel.

“Can you just explain the rules already?” The boy named Hwang Minhyun said, looking a little annoyed at Minki’s endless promotions of the Drama Club. Not everyone seemed happy with their partners, Ong Seongwoo is the very example, and just wants the activity to be over.

“I’m getting to it, don’t get too excited sweetie.” Minki patted Minhyun’s head, smiling sarcastically at the boy.  “The Red String of Fate prevents you to go more than one meter away from your partner. You guys will spend the whole day together, and each one of you will be given a mission to complete. The couple who wouldn’t be able to finish the mission and return to the campus by seven in the evening just in time for the festival’s fireworks display would be given a penalty.  I know that you guys wouldn’t like it so I suggest that you just complete the mission and have fun with your dates.”

Ong Seongwoo looked at the guy on his right who’s too busy humming to a song he doesn’t know while smiling to his self.

_This is going to be a long day._

“So, uhm.” Daniel looked at Seongwoo, smiling.  “I read the mission, and it looks like we have to complete three missions today.” He handed the mission card to Seongwoo before giving him his share for the drinks. Seongwoo shook his head and told Daniel to keep the card with him, to which the younger agreed.

After receiving their mission from Minki, the two decided to grab some coffee from the Starbacks across their university. Seongwoo needed his daily caffeine fix, while Daniel wanted a strawberry milkshake.

“There’s a drawing of pasta and wine on the third mission, and I think we’re going to watch a movie for the second one since there’s popcorn and everything.” Daniel said, while tracing and pointing at the drawings on the mission card. “I think it would be fun.”

 _Wow, Daniel is really talkative, even with actual people,_ Seongwoo thought to himself as he placed his wallet back inside his black bag. “What’s the first mission?” He gently tugged on the string and walked towards the claiming area with Daniel following him not far behind.

“It says, ‘get to know each other while walking to the movie house’.” Daniel nodded to himself before looking at Seongwoo again. “I think that’s it since there’s a doodle of two people and a road, and a dialogue box. It isn’t actually written on it but that’s just how I interpreted it.”

“You’re really talkative, do you know that?” Seongwoo said, a little amused at how Daniel was able to come up with a story like that out of the drawings on the mission card.

“I’ve been told.” Daniel nodded with a smile. “But Jisung hyung is more talkative than me.”

“I’m aware of that fact.”

“I’m actually the least talkative, if you compare me with my friends. Jisung hyung is the most talkative, of course. And then there’s Jinwoo and Jaehan hyung. Oh, Taewoong hyung is talkative too.”

“You sure have a lot of talkative friends. Knowing that your friends with Jisung hyung kind of gave me a heads up that you might be as talkative as him as well.”

“I tend to talk a lot when I’m nervous, so I won’t get all awkward and shitty. My accent is even coming out, I’m that nervous.” Daniel rubbed his nape shyly, looking at his worn out sneakers before glancing at Seongwoo once again. “It’s nice to actually see you, Seongwoo hyung.”

Seongwoo took a glance at Daniel and nodded. “Well, sorry I didn’t show up before. I had to attend to something urgent.” He had to lie. He wasn’t that heartless. After all, he had to spend the day with the boy. Awkwardness wouldn’t help him get through, not when Daniel is actually making an effort to not make things awkward.

Danile chuckled softly and shook his head. “It’s okay. You don’t need to lie. Jisung hyung told me everything about the ‘law’ or something.”

“Well, I firmly believe that five minutes is enough to know whether a date would go well or not.” Seongwoo took his cup of iced caramel macchiato and poked the straw on it.

Daniel took a sip from his strawberry milkshake and smiled, his rabbit-like two front teeth showing. “Wow, it’s really sweet. But it’s really good.” The boy mumbled to his self before taking another sip while humming a soft tune.

 _There he goes, he’s talking to his self again._ Ong Seongwoo shook his head as he took a sip on his drink. Dragging Daniel with him, they walked out of the café and started walking towards the movie house a few blocks away from where they were at the moment.

“Well, if you believe in that law, I firmly believe,” Daniel said, turning his attention on Seongwoo as he tapped his fingers on the cold cup. “That five minutes isn’t enough to determine whether a date is going okay or not. Five minutes isn’t even enough to get to know a person and tell whether it’s going to work or not.”

Seongwoo looked at Daniel as if he was speaking in a language he cannot understand. How dare he question the lemon law? The Lemon Law has helped him drive away possible disaster dates and crazy exes. It actually helped him keep his dating history quite decent. He gasped dramatically and moved as far as the string would let him from Daniel. “How dare you!”

“What?” Daniel shrugged, smiling innocently. “I’m just stating an opinion. I mean, if you think about it, the first five minutes of our meeting today is consists of me awkwardly staring at you while you’re throwing a fit. Do you think that’s enough to prove that this ‘date’ is going downhill?”

Seongwoo blinked as he took in what Daniel said. The boy actually had a point, but nevertheless, the lemon law is a sacred law that awesome men like him and Barney lives by. He cannot break the legendary streak. “I hear you, but I still believe that the lemon law has actually helped me shoo off potential crazy exes.”

“The lemon what?” Daniel tilted his head to the side, blinking his eyes.

“The lemon law. I lemon law-ed you, that’s why I didn’t show up on our blind date.”

“What’s the lemon law?”

Seongwoo then began to explain the lemon law, based on Barney Stinson’s explanation. The origin, the example, the exact episode and season number, he had it memorized. Unlike the others who looked bored when he explained about his fondness for the series and Barney Stinson, Daniel actually listened. Seongwoo’s the kind of person who likes it when someone pays attention to him, and Daniel responding sincerely like that gives him a little ego boost. He even asked questions, and told Seongwoo he’s going to give him his hard drive and copy the whole series when he sees him again.

“So wrapping it up, bottom line is, first impressions are that important, Daniel.” Seongwoo threw his empty cup of coffee on the trash can before looking at Daniel who seemed absorbed in his little explanation. Seongwoo’s first impressions on people are correct 95% of the time. So if he thinks Daniel is a weirdo who talks and laughs by himself, he thinks he’s right.

“What’s your first impression of me?” Daniel asked curiously, biting on the tip of the straw as he waited for the answer. The boy looked like a child waiting for the result of his test.

Seongwoo raised a brow, contemplating whether he would tell the truth or not. Actually, he can tell him the truth. Jisung already told Daniel about what really happened, so it isn’t as if he’s going to lose anything anymore. “I think you’re a weirdo who talks and laughs by his self _a lot.”_ He just replaced the word ‘loser’ with ‘weirdo’, as if it would make a difference.

He expected Daniel to look a little crestfallen after hearing him, but it was the opposite. The boy chuckled softly while nodding. “Okay, I accept that. It’s true though, I tend to talk to myself a lot.”

Seongwoo raised an eyebrow. “Uhm.. okay?”

“Aren’t you going to ask me what my first impression of you is?” Daniel asked with a teasing smile, nudging Seongwoo gently on the sides. He took the look the older guy gave him as a go signal. Daniel’s teasing smile turned into a soft and warm one as he looked at Seongwoo. “Well, I must say that whether it’s in Busan or here in Seoul, _you’re actually the most beautiful person I have ever seen_.”

Seongwoo was caught off guard. He can feel blood rushing up to his cheeks, turning his slightly tanned skin on his cheeks a little red. He didn’t expect that answer. Even after he called the younger boy a weirdo who talks and laughs by his self _a lot_ , Daniel was still able to say a good thing about him, and he meant it. He is used to hearing that he’s good-looking, but Daniel sincerely telling him that he’s beautiful was enough to make his heart confused.  Most people would just tell him that he looked vain or snobby, but Daniel actually managed to surprise him with his first impression and even made him blush. He was the first one to actually do that.

“Won’t you look at that? You’re actually blushing.” Daniel laughed softly as he looked at the blushing and awkwardly silent boy beside him. “Give me this chance, hyung. Just this one day. If you still feel like lemon law-ing me or something after today, I’ll accept it. I won’t ask you out on a third date.”

Seongwoo cleared his throat, trying to regain his composure. “Third date?”

“Technically, this is our second date even if you didn’t show up on the first one.”

“Stop rubbing that fact on me.”

“I’m just stating what really happened, hyung.”

“Shut up.” Seongwoo pushed Daniel away by the arm before walking ahead. Daniel just laughed and followed along.

Of all the people Seongwoo met, he can say that Daniel is the most unexpected. He had to admit that.

 

 

If Seongwoo would make an actual tally of the times Daniel laughed in the past thirty minutes he spent with him, then probably, he could say that the boy laughed more than ten times in that short span of time.

Walking towards the cinemas near the university doesn’t usually take thirty minutes, but with Daniel needing to pee and wanting to buy a pack of bunggopang (and actually laughing it for a good ten minutes because one of the fish carps only had one eye), it took them that long to actually reach to the destination of their second mission.

“What’s so funny?” Seongwoo looked at the laughing boy beside him as they went inside the cinemas. Daniel is laughing once again, and he didn’t know what the boy saw for him to laugh like that again. “Why are you laughing again?”

“The.. the..” Daniel found it hard to form his sentence in between laughs. “The fish carp only had one eye.” The blond-haired boy looked at the fish carp he was holding and began laughing softly again.

Seongwoo looked at Daniel, both amused and amazed at how the boy can laugh at something over and over again. Daniel seemed like the kind of person who isn’t hard to please. The three jokes Seongwoo said in the past thirty minutes were received well by the boy (he was clapping like a seal and laughing). It actually amazed Seongwoo how easy it is to make the boy laugh, and how much he liked it when Daniel responded to him that well.

After that small awkward moment (thanks to Daniel’s cheesy yet sincere first impression), Seongwoo started to open up little by little to Daniel without knowing. He started making jokes, which he usually does only with his close friends, and found the little things Daniel did cute (even though he does deny it). Daniel had endless charms, and he was starting to acknowledge them (this one he doesn’t deny). With this, he’s contemplating whether the lemon law should stay or not.

“Stop laughing at the fish carp, Daniel.” Seongwoo took one fish carp from the paper bag Daniel was holding and took a bite. “You’ve been laughing at it for almost fifteen minutes.”

“But it’s funny,” was the only response that Daniel was able to come up with in between his short spurts of laughter.

Seongwoo shook his head in amusement, letting the boy laugh to his self as he dragged him towards the cashier.  There was a big white flag with a red heart on it right beside counter number one, a big sign that the two should go there. Since the event _The Red String of Fate_ by the drama club has been an annual thing for the university wide festival, they were able to partner up with places like this in exchange of free advertisements.

“Faster, Daniel. God, stop laughing.” Seongwoo tugged on the string, urging Daniel to walk faster.  “It’s a fish carp, for goodness’ sake.”

“Alright, alright.” Daniel said, pressing his lips together to stop his self from laughing. “I’ll stop.”

“Good, good puppy.” Seongwoo grinned and patted Daniel’s head before dragging him to the counter on the far left side.

They were welcomed by a guy with a wide smile behind the counter. “Hello, I’m Jonghyun. Are you two the destined pair?”

“Wow, that’s some lame ass shit you got there man.” Seongwoo laughed softly, shaking his head in amusement.

The guy named Jonghyun chuckled softly, rubbing his nape out of embarrassment. “Minki made us do it. He got mad at us when we didn’t go by the script.” He laid his hand out and looked at Seongwoo. “Where’s your card? I need to stamp it first before I give you the tickets.”

Seongwoo looked at Daniel; the boy nodded and took the red envelope out of his bag. “Here you go, Ong hyung.”

“Ong hyung?” Seongwoo raised an eyebrow as he took the red envelope from the Daniel. “Really? You got a nickname for me now?”

“Your name’s a mouthful.” Daniel shrugged, chuckling softly as he stood beside his Ong hyung.  The older boy took out the mission card from the envelope and handed it to Jonghyun. _“Ongs~”_ Daniel began to sing, bobbing his head to his own rhythm. _“Ong Ongs!”_

“Stop it, Daniel.” Ong narrowed his at Daniel playfully.

_“Ong Ongs!”_

“Stop it, Daniel.” Seongwoo pinched Daniel’s cheek and pulled at it, making the younger boy wince in pain. “I’m still being nice, you know.”

“You guys are cute.” Jonghyun commented with a slight chuckle as he took out the mission card from the envelope. He was preparing the stamp when the telephone beside him suddenly rang. Since he’s an employee there and it might be an urgent call, he answered it first, placing the stamp beside the card. “Good morning, I’m Kim Jonghyun from Jeojang Movie House. How can I hel— oh Minki it’s you. What’s up? Mm. Uh-huh.” He glanced at the two boys bickering in front of him and nodded, as if he was talking to Minki in person. “Are you seriously asking me to say that right now? No, I’m not going to say it. Just because! It’s silly! Minki. No. I’m not do— alright. Mm. See you later.”

Jonghyun cleared his throat, successfully catching the attention of the two boys in front of him. He let out a sigh and ran his hands through his hair before smiling weirdly at the Daniel and Seongwoo. “A new rule of fate has arrived. Please give me your hand Ong Seongwoo-ssi.”

“You do know that what you’re saying is lame, right?” Seongwoo, both curious and confused, placed his hand on the counter.

“I know, I know. Let’s just get this over with.” Jonghyun let out out a sigh before reaching for Seongwoo’s wrist. He then began to fix the locks of the red string on Seongwoo. “Fights are inevitable within couples. Because you two have been bickering continuously, the cupids from the drama club wishes you two to become closer through this—” Jonghyun monotonously said before pulling on the strap, making it shorter by 20 centimeters. Daniel was dragged and was forced to move closer to his Ong hyung, hitting him on the arm in the process.

Seongwoo’s eyes widened as he looked at Jonghyun then at the shortened red string around his wrist. “What the act—”

Daniel, on the other hand, just laughed it off.

“Why are you laughing? This isn’t a situation where you should be laughing!”

Daniel waved his hand in the air, telling Seongwoo to not mind him as he laughed softly to his self. Seongwoo let out a loud sigh of defeat. He can’t do anything against it. After this day ends, he swears to look for whoever paid for this red string package and kick him in the ass (or thank him—it depends on how the date ends to be honest, but he shrugs the thought off).

“I wish you two a happy day. Here’s your mission card.” Jonghyun stamped on the card before placing it back on the envelope. He handed it to Seongwoo together with two movie tickets. “Here are your movie tickets. The cupids from the drama club wish that you two would enjoy this little treat. Have a good day.”

Seongwoo let out a sigh as he took the envelope from Jonghyun. “Dude, I feel bad for you. You have to say all that lame stuff.”

“I know, I know.” Jonghyun ran his fingers through his hair. “Anywho, I hope you guys enjoy the movie. See you around.”

Seongwoo gave Jonghyun a nod before dragging Daniel away from the booth. “And you,” he pointed at Daniel and narrowed his eyes at him playfully. “You’re enjoying this, huh?”

“Heh.” Was all that Daniel was able to say.

Seongwoo rolled his eyes. “Shut up.” He brought the tickets closer to him to check what movie they were going to watch. “Oh, we’re watching a horror movie.”

Daniel was quiet as they made their way inside the cinema. It was the kind dedicated especially for couples, where you get a wide booth just for two people. Seongwoo sat on the seat comfortably while Daniel cautiously did. He was looking around the place, and is unusually quiet. Seongwoo noticed it, and was a little bothered.

“Hyung,” Daniel tugged at Seongwoo’s shirt as soon as the lights went off, signaling the start of the movie.

“Mm.” Seongwoo answered nonchalantly as he popped a popcorn in his mouth.

“The thing is..”

“Mm?”

 

 

_“..I’m not good at watching horror movies.”_


	2. the lemon law: 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seongwu gets to see more of Daniel's charms as the string got shorter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *will be using Seongwu from now on since I heard that that's how Ong likes to spell his name
> 
> this chapter is a little shorter than the previous one, i can't extend it anymore :(  
> blame my little writer's block for not being able to update quickly. i lost the will to write and all, but i'm glad i was able to finish this.  
> and posting this today in celebration of the boys' first win plus JBJ's and Rainz' upcoming debut!!  
> and also for hyeri and junyeol dating but heeeh

“Daniel, stop screaming. My ears are bleeding.”

“What’s happening, what’s happening???????” 

“If you take your hands off of your eyes, you’d know what’s happening, Daniel.”

Ong Seongwu isn’t a big fan of horror movies as well, but due to Daniel’s consistent screaming and attempts to hide behind the older guy, Se. Instead of getting scared, Seongwu decided to focus on the scaredy cat beside him. He was too busy watching the big guy who looks like a puppy try his best to close his eyes while covering his ears to even care about what was happening on the big screen. Besides, Daniel’s screams were scarier than the movie. How would he be able to concentrate if the person beside him is screaming at his ears?

“Did the guy with the axe appear yet???” Daniel scooted closer to the older boy and held the sleeve of his shirt using it to cover his eyes after Seongwu finally managed to get Daniel’s hands off of his eyes. ”Are they all going to die??”

“Why don’t you use your eyes, you big puppy.” Seongwu pushed Daniel’s head playfully with his hand, smiling slightly as he looked at the boy.

“No, hyung! Cover me, cover me, cover me!!” Daniel pleaded as he tried his best to hide behind Seongwu, who is trying his best to move away from the younger boy. Seongwu didn’t know why he found it fun to tease Daniel, but seeing the reaction the younger boy gave him motivated him to do it more.

“Why would I cover you? Watch the movie!” Seongwu laughed as he pushed Daniel away gently, causing the boy to fall over from the small couch they were on. The younger boy got up quickly, going back to his seat and using the small pillow to cover his eyes instead. For a few minutes, Daniel was silently enduring the movie on his own. He did look a little sulky, probably because Seongwu wouldn’t even lend his back as a cover. Seongwu noticed this and started nudging Daniel on the side gently. “Hey, are you sulking?”

“No.” Seongwu can sense Daniel pouting based on the tone of his voice, and it made him laugh. The boy can look all strong and intimidating due to his build, but underneath that strong exterior is a small and fluffy puppy who’s scared of horror movies.

“You’re mad, are you?”

“I’m not, shut up.”

Seongwu looked at the screen and checked the scene being played. It would be a little fun to tease Daniel more. “Hey, you can look now. It’s not that scary anymore.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really.” Seongwu grinned and quickly snatched the pillow from Daniel. “See? No—”

Seongwu was interrupted by Daniel’s scream followed by a tight embrace, the younger burying his face on Seongwu’s chest. Daniel’s eyes were closed, and he was mumbling the words _‘seongwu’s mean’_ to his self in order to distract his self from the continuous screams coming from the speakers. As soon as Seongwu snatched the pillow, the killer with the axe, the character Daniel was most afraid of, appeared on the screen.

Seongwu was frozen on the spot, his arms still raised from trying to shield his self to the punch or hit he thought was coming. He looked at the boy holding onto him as if his life depended on it, and it felt weird. Daniel was warm, and the warmth radiating from the younger boy was making its way to him. Seongwu felt like he could hear his own heartbeat amidst all the screams and cries coming from the movie they were watching. He was quite thankful that it was dark or else Daniel would tease him again because of his blushing cheeks.

“D-daniel.” Seongwu cleared his throat, tapping Daniel on the shoulder lightly. “Get off.”

“No.” Daniel said firmly, hugging the older boy tighter. “If I let go, you’re going to play pranks on me again. I told you, I’m scared.”

“Daniel, ge—”

“No.”

And with Daniel’s firm answer and tight hold, Seongwu surrendered. It would be useless anyways. Throughout the rest of the movie, the two stayed like that: Seongwu awkwardly trying to make his self as comfortable as possible and Daniel hugging the older boy tightly, using his chest to cover his eyes. Even after the end credits were over and the lights went on, Daniel still didn’t let go.

“H-hey.” Seongwu poked Daniel on the shoulder. “The movie’s over, you can let go now.”

“Are you sure?”

“Can you still hear the end credits rolling?” Seongwu rolled his eyes and let out a soft sigh. “Come on, Daniel. Let’s go.”

Daniel slowly let go and ran a hand through his hair. He looks exhausted, as if his soul was drained out of his body. Beads of sweat can be seen on his forehead as he looked into blank space. He looked cute, and with his appearance, Seongwu felt an urge to hug him and tell him that he’s done a good job and that everything will be okay. But he’s not that kind of person usually so he didn’t.

Seongwu let out a soft chuckle as he patted Daniel’s back gently. “You’re okay now. Let’s go? We still have a mission to finish.”

 

 

 

 

“I’m hungry.” Daniel rubbed his stomach gently as he followed Seongwu out of the movie house. He looked at Seongwu, lips slightly pursed as he waited for the boy’s response.

Seongwu let out a sigh as he read the instructions Jonghyun gave them on how to get to their next mission. “Says the one who ate all the bread and hoarded the popcorn.” He studied the instructions before placing it in the envelope again.

“Screaming is exhausting. And when you’re exhausted, you get hungry.” Daniel said, using his hands to explain how those two statements were related. “The next mission is related to food, right? So where are we going to eat? Pasta and wine? I like pasta a lot, and wine too. There’s this certain brand of w—”

“Talk slowly, Daniel. Don’t eat your words.” Seongwu shook his head in amusement, gesturing for them to start moving along afterwards. The Daniel inside the movie house and the Daniel beside him right now is totally different, and it was as if the horror movie didn’t happen. The boy was back to his bright state after five minutes of mumbling _‘don’t be scared daniel’_ to his self. “You have all day, so don’t speak like you’re in a rush.”

“Mm. I do have the rest of the day to spend with you.” Daniel said with a small smile, nodding slowly.

“You’re really enjoying this, huh?”

“Is it that obvious?” Daniel rubbed his nape shyly as he looked away.

Seongwu laughed softly. The boy wasn’t shy when he was hugging him tightly inside the movie house, yet now that he’s stating an obvious fact he gets all bashful. “Wow, you’re getting shy now? That’s weird. You really are unexpected, Daniel.”

“I am unexpected? In what ways?”

“Well, you’re talkative. Second, you’re not that awkward around new people, and lastly, it’s weird that you don’t have grudges against me for dumping you on that blind date.”

There, Seongwu finally said it. Ever since Daniel’s confession about knowing what actually happened before, he got curious and intrigued as to why this boy acts like nothing’s wrong. If he was in his position, he would’ve glared at the other until his gaze bore holes on the back of his head, or simply remove the string and leave, even if it means having to pay thrice the price of the red string package.

“To be honest, I’m totally okay about it.” Daniel nodded slowly, placing his free hand inside his pocket. “We are all entitled to our opinions, and if you thought I was a weirdo laughing by myself during our first date and decided to dump me, I wouldn’t really blame you. It was your choice, based on your life principle, even if it is a little silly if you ask me,” he looked at Seongwu with a small smile, earning a scoff from the older. He chuckled softly and shook his head slowly. “We all believe in something in order to keep ourselves sane, and that was yours. I don’t have anything against you. It did hurt a little, but it’s all in the past. Don’t worry about it.”

“So why did you agree to go on with this? If it was me, I would’ve said no.”

Daniel shrugged, smiling slightly. “You know, I actually saw you around campus after the blind date. I wanted to say hi to you, but since you were the one who dumped me, it might seem a little weird. For both you and me, of course. Since I got dumped and you didn’t want anything to do with me before.”

“Wow, you make me feel guilty.” Seongwu scrunched his nose, slowly admitting to his self that maybe, he made a judgment a little too early. After seeing the different sides of Daniel on today’s date, he started having second thoughts. What if he stayed a little longer, would their date turn out just as good as this one? Would he get to see Daniel laugh as if he’s losing his breath because of a joke he randomly blurted out? Would he hear those beautiful words come out of Daniel’s lips if he had stayed a little longer?

“You should feel guilty, you lemon law-ed me after all.” Daniel grinned, wiggling his brows teasingly as he looked at Seongwu.

“Alright, alright. Guilty.” Seongwu chuckled softly, raising his hands in the air as if he was surrendering. Due to this, the strap got pulled, tugging slightly on Daniel’s pale wrist. The boy winced in pain but laughed softly afterwards, finding the whole situation funny. It seemed that after a few hours of spending time with each other, they got comfortable with each other’s company and forgot about the existence of a certain red string which keeps them together literally. Seongwu stole a glance at Daniel and saw the boy smiling widely as he fixed the red strap on his wrist. “You do know how to make people feel guilty, mm?”

“I know, Jisung hyung told me. I guess it’s a talent.” Daniel sounded like he was a child bragging of his newly-found skill.

“You have a really great talent, Daniel.” Seongwu clapped his hands gently, giving Daniel a small smile.

“What do you think your talent is?”

“Mm..” Seongwu pursed his lips together as thought of something. Dancing and singing is pretty normal compared to Daniel’s talent of making people feel guilty. “Since I was gifted with this face, I think my talent is attracting people and making them fall for me. A lot of people have cried over this face, you know.”

Daniel’s lips formed a small o as he nodded slowly. “I accept that answer. You do have a beautiful face, but I think who you are draws more people in than what lies on the outside. I think I like you, not because of your beautiful face but more because of the sides of you I’ve been seeing today. I like it so far.”

If Seongwu was drinking something at the moment, he would’ve choked. He didn’t expect the answer and tried his best to not sound surprised. However, one specific word from Daniel kind of ticked him off. “You _think_ you like me?” His ego was speaking, and it was a little bruised with what Daniel said. “You’re not sure if you like me?”

“I can’t really say that for now, but I am interested in you. Isn’t that why people go on dates? To get to know the people they’re interested in.” Daniel looked at Seongwu and smiled.

“I don’t know. I go on dates to have fun. It’s not like I fall in love with all of them.” Seongwu shrugged, trying to avoid Daniel’s gaze.

“You can’t be in love with each and every one you date. Some people are just too blinded by the concept of love, but most of them mistook the feeling of interest as love. I don’t believe in love at first sight, but I do believe that people can learn how to love.”

Seongwu stared at the puppy-like boy beside him, a little confused and mostly amazed at what he said. Daniel may be talkative, and blurt out nonsense most of the time, but when he does get in the zone, he says some pretty deep shit that Seongwu can never think of. He never fails to surprise Seongwu every time he opens his mouth.

“I’m not in love with you yet, don’t get your hopes up too much.” Daniel warned in a joking manner as he looked at Seongwu. The older boy rolled his eyes before letting out a chuckle. “But I’m not saying that it’s impossible. Maybe in the near future, who knows?” He poked Seongwu’s cheek with his finger, smiling at the older boy with adoration. “ _Falling in love with you doesn’t seem too hard, you’re a person who deserves to be loved and adored that much.”_

 

 

 

Just as the two expected, the next mission lead them to one of the finest restaurants near the university. It’s an Italian restaurant with a really romantic ambiance, and most people who ate the same time Seongwu and Daniel did were couples.

A meal was prepared for them as soon as they arrived. Much to Daniel’s liking, they were served with exactly his favorite brand of wine, the one he was supposed to talk about before Seongwu told him to not eat his words. However, he had to order a separate meal for his self since the dish included in the package is Seafood Marinara, and eating seafood can turn him into a big ball of red rashes. Seongwu ended up finishing the whole plate of Seafood Marinara good for two people, while Daniel munched on the small four-cheese pizza he ordered, dipping it in honey before popping it into his mouth.

Their small romantic almost dinner was interrupted by the waiter holding the stamp, telling them that they completed the last mission and are qualified to go back to the campus for the closing remarks. Daniel was a little crestfallen because he was already getting into the part of his story which excited him the most, but decided to just tell the story next time.

“Welcome back, destined couples! How was your date? Did everything go well?” Choi Minki smiled, his hands clasped together across his chest as he looked at the ‘couples’ in front of him. He turned to look at the young couple, smiling after seeing the length of their string. “Mm, seems like it worked for you two.” Daehwi and Jinyoung looked okay, and were busy talking and ignoring Minki. Their string was still the same length as before, seems like the two really hit it off.

Beside them were Jaehwan and Minhyun, whose string is the shortest. Turns out the two fought about little things throughout their date, like where to seat or who would leave first. Every mission they went to deducted 20cms from the red string connecting the two of them. After seeing the string, Minki laughed and shook his head. He told the two to _‘if you both had a hard time, blame your friends for putting you two together’_. But it wasn’t the case. Minhyun and Jaehwan seemed okay together but just liked to bicker about the smallest things which resulted to their string getting shortened.

One couple was late, Park Jihoon and Park Woojin. If one thought that the Minhyun and Jaehwan’s string was short, Jihoon and Woojin’s were shorter. It’s so short it would make one think about how much bickering these two did for their string to end up like that.

Just like what Minki before, the punishment is something that they wouldn’t like. Instead of getting the strings removed, the strings got locked instead, forcing the couple to stay together overnight. They can only claim the key on the next morning. Daniel jokingly told Seongwoo that they should’ve walked slower so they can arrive at least a minute late. Seongwu ended up pulling on the latter’s cheek.

“I’m really thankful for your cooperation, and I hope you guys had fun on your dates. Until then, this has been the head cupid, Choi Minki, for this year’s The Red String of Fate. Thank you very much.” The members of the drama club behind Minki started clapping, while the others headed to the couples to untie them.

Everyone went on their own ways afterwards, while Daniel and Seongwu started walking towards the field where the fireworks display can clearly be seen. The university spends a lot on the fireworks display, and it is one of the most romantic highlight of the event.

Daniel and Seongwu stood beside each other without saying a word, waiting for the start of the festival’s most awaited event. Seongwu didn’t feel like speaking, while Daniel didn’t know what to say, since he’s feeling a little nervous. Seongwu might turn him down, and he wouldn’t get the chance to get to know this guy better.

Just as soon as the fireworks went on, Seongwu intertwined his fingers with Daniel, holding onto the younger boy’s hand tightly. All of the worries Daniel had slowly went away as soon as he felt the warmth coming from Seongwu’s hand. He turned to look at Seongwu and saw a big smile on his face as he watched the fireworks display.

Seongwu gave Daniel’s hand a gentle squeeze. “ _Falling in love with you doesn’t seem too hard either, Kang Daniel.”_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> won't be editing this because i am too lazy forgive me loool  
> GIVE SOME LOVE TO MY OTHER WORK AS WELL <3  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/11491350

**Author's Note:**

> also, if you're feeling it, kindly give some love to my other work as well!  
> it would be much appreciated <3
> 
> http://archiveofourown.org/works/11491350/chapters/25776285
> 
> STREAM WANNA ONE STREAM STREAM STREAAAAM!!!!!!!!!


End file.
